by Harry Jaffe Lucky guy, that Adrian Fenty.
Up for re-election this Fall, Mayor Fenty’s political fortunes seemed to be falling. Polls showed his popularity plummeting, especially among African-Americans. Snow from two historic snowstorms stopped the city cold, exposed flaws in Fenty’s vaunted ability to clear the streets and portrayed him at his most petulant. He managed to enrage residents from Anacostia to Shaw to American University Park.
“Off with his head!” the pundits said, as they listed the many mayors voted out of office because they couldn’t clear snow. Most residents in polls had graded him high on keeping streets clear and picking up trash. Now he couldn’t even perform those basic tasks.
The youthful mayor appeared to be on his knees. Potential competitors licked their lips. Could Fenty be taken out in September?
Enter Marion Barry. In the nick of time, the former Mayor For Life, cocaine addict, tax scofflaw and perennial council member became the central character in yet another corruption scandal. On Tuesday, as students tried to make it to school for the first time in a week, attorney Robert Bennett dropped a 107-page investigative report on the council that accused Barry of, among many things, taking kickbacks from a former lover after awarding her a scam-filled city contract for $15,000.
In a blink, the headlines flashed from Fenty Can’t Clear Streets to Barry Accused of Corruption.
And in the calculus of D.C. politics, Adrian Fenty started to look pretty good again. All the people who remember Marion Barry’s leadership with disgust recalled the Barry era. The city didn’t function. The government was broke. D.C. was a punch line for comedians. Anybody but Marion, they thought. Fenty began to look more palatable, at least acceptable.
Unless, of course, in this defining Marion moment, the city’s other political leaders can grow a pair, if you know what I mean. Will the other 12 council members call Barry out for his obvious abuse of power and public funds? Will they mete out some consequences and publicly humiliate him? Or will they let the old goat slide? Will anyone risk angering Barry and his many fans?
Not Council Chairman Vincent Gray; he clammed up and called for hearings — another missed opportunity to lead.
But two immediately called for censure. Ward 3’s Mary Cheh could play to her white constituents and risk little. But when at-large member Kwame Brown called for “censure,” he showed some political bravery. From the dais, he said Barry should at least have shown some remorse. To me, he said: “It would be irresponsible for the council to condone such behavior.”
Kwame Brown has been mentioned as a challenger to Fenty. Skeptics have attempted to link him to Barry, in part because his father, Marshall Brown, was a Barry aide. The son is not.
“Marion Barry does not define the District of Columbia,” Brown says, “especially for those African-Americans who are coming up. The Marion Barry days are over.”
Not for Adrian Fenty, especially if he feels threatened.
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected]
